Kael Nightbane had never hesitated before. Not once. Not for prey, not for rivals, not for anything that dared cross into his territory.
Until now.
A human stood before him—breathless, trembling, alive—and yet, in a way that made the world shift under his feet. Her scent struck him like a blade: wild, sharp, impossible to ignore. Sweet with fear. Heated with something else. Temptation.
Every instinct he had spent centuries mastering screamed in warning. Danger. Run. Do not touch.
Yet the moment he inhaled her scent, the chains he had carefully wrapped around the beast inside him began to crack. The monster he had locked away stirred, snarling, restless, and feral.
Mate.
The word struck him like lightning, scorching his mind. Impossible. Deadly. A curse hidden beneath his skin whispered reminders of the consequences: claiming her would destroy her. Or worse.
Still, he stepped closer, drawn by forces older than time. His eyes, silver under the crimson moonlight, locked onto hers. Wide, dark, unbroken by fear despite everything. Defiant.
She did not beg. She did not cry.
"You shouldn't be here," he growled, his voice low, rough, like gravel sliding across steel.
"I didn't mean to cross the line," she whispered, her words fragile but carrying a stubborn strength that made his chest tighten.
The wind shifted, carrying her scent straight into his lungs. His control fractured. Every heartbeat, every nerve in his body screamed to close the distance between them, to claim, to mark, to protect, to destroy.
"Run," he snapped, his fangs brushing his lower lip, his muscles coiled and ready to strike.
She didn't.
Instead, she took a step closer, and the scent of her made his heart seize. Her voice was a tremor, soft yet unyielding:
"Why does it feel like I already belong to you?"
Something inside him shattered. Something he had fought for centuries. The air thickened around them, charged with energy, ancient and dangerous. His claws itched to sink into the earth, to mark territory—but the pull between them was no territory he could claim with violence. This was primal. Eternal.
His jaw tightened, the beast within clawing for release. Every instinct screamed both warning and longing, fear and desire, control and surrender. He had lived long enough to know the power of a mate bond. He had avoided it, fought it, denied it. But it had found him anyway. And now… she was here. Alive. Breathing. Human. Fragile.
Yet irresistible.
Kael inhaled slowly, fighting the surge of heat rising in his chest. His gaze never left hers. She was defiance and vulnerability wrapped into one, a contradiction his beast craved. He wanted her, feared for her, and knew without a doubt that claiming her would ignite consequences far beyond either of their understanding.
Still, he could not step back.
"I should send you away," he murmured, his voice low, dangerous.
"But you won't," she said. And even in her whisper, he heard the truth.
Her body had already betrayed her. Her eyes had already claimed him. And in that instant, Kael Nightbane realized: no hesitation could stop what had begun. The bond had found them. The Dark Alpha had a mate.
And fate was cruel.